How to Repair a Ding in the Rail of Varuna Surfboards

Here’s what you need to complete the repair.
EPOXY RESIN LEFT
HARDENER RIGHT
CAB-O-SIL LINK - NOT FULLY NECESSARY BUT MAKES THE RESIN THICKER AND STRONGER SO THAT IT’S NOT AS RUNNY
MASKING TAPE
WOODEN STICK
HARD SANDING PAD
SOFT SANDING PAD
We took a brand new Varuna Twin Pin designed by Maurice Cole, sorry MC and hit it with a metal hammer on the rail so you can repair yours if it gets dinged.
Sand back the damaged area using 80 grit with a hard pad on the sander, making sure to go 5cm over into undamaged fibreglass so that when you repair the board you can bond to this area firmly. Sand lightly, making sure not to take all the glass off, except for the immediate damaged area.
Once you get through the fibreglass and resin you’ll be able to feel the soft part from where the hammer hit. All the soft parts of your ding need to be removed. Peel back the dinged balsa wood with your finger first to feel where it is soft and where it is still solid.
Even with the hammer hitting the rail of the board this ding is still small enough to simply use fibreglass cloth and resin to repair. Just like a PU surfboard.
Use tape to create a base for the resin to sit in and harden to form the rail of your Varuna surfboard.
Mix your resin with 2 parts resin and 1 part hardener with a pinch of cab-o-sil.
Pour the resin into the rail area that you’ve created. And wait 24 hours for it to set fully.
Here you can see that the resin has hardened and the rail of the board has been bulked out so that you can now sand it.
Sand back the damaged area using 80 grit with a hard pad on the sander to remove the edges. Switch to hand sanding with a pad, then just the hand, to ensure that the rail repair matches the contour of the rail edge.
Now it is ready for the layers of 6oz fibreglass cloth.
Tape here to mark your area.
Brush epoxy resin onto the area so that it sticks the fibreglass down. Place your first piece of 6oz cloth on the rail.
Then brush the resin onto the glass.
Cut your second piece of cloth and repeat the process.
Once it is dry, remove the tape and cut the excess cloth off.
Sand it back with 120 grit, by machine and hand, which will prepare the area for the filler coat.
Apply the filler coat.
Use 150 grit with a soft pad to sand back the filler. Run your sandpaper over the rail by hand to shape the final curves.
Finish with a coat of paint to match the rail colours and you’re ready to get back in the water.
To learn more about Varuna surfboards head to www.varuna.surf